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Episode 5 Fateful Lightnings “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” Episode 5: Scenario I July, 1862 Another beautiful dawn breaks, and birds are singing in the swampy meadow that lies between the groves of trees where the opposing armies are camped. In his tent, General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate army, is planning a defense against an attack he expects to happen before the end of the day. He is convinced that the Union army is trying to move its siege artillery within range of the Confederate capital city of Richmond. Both armies are already so close to Richmond that Lee can hear the city’s church bells ringing in the clear morning air. He orders defenses to be built to repel an attack by the numerically superior Union army. Lee is surprised that the Union army has not yet struck, but the commander of the Union army, General George McClellan, is waiting for his own reinforcements to arrive, even though he already has a sizable advantage in men and weaponry. The Confederate units need to build several kinds of defenses quickly. They need to dig trenches and use the dirt to construct embankments (dirt piled up to hide from behind). They need to chop down trees to build an abatis (a network of cut trees to slow down the enemy) and to make palisades (sharpened sticks with points sticking up from the ground). “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” Episode 5: Scenario 2 Did the Confederates successfully build their defenses? Every Confederate soldier will make both a Strength and Stamina roll. For each successful roll, the confederate soldier gets an “Ignore Injury” card. (up to 2) UNION ARMY July 1862 The Battle of Oak Grove begins with a massive artillery barrage by the Union army. General George McClellan, commander of the Union army, has ordered his cannons to blast the newly built Southern defenses. With their greater range, the Union cannons start blasting away from their side of the woods in the early afternoon. In the meantime, the Union soldiers are massed in the woods at the edge of the woods, waiting for the signal to advance across the open meadow. You look around at the nervous, sweaty faces of the other soldiers and check your weapon and ammunition for the hundredth time. The booming of the cannons behind you startles you. You see huge spouts of dirt shoot into the air where the Confederates have built their defenses. The order to advance should be coming soon. “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” Episode 5: Scenario 2 Confederate Army The Battle of Oak Grove begins with the sight of cannon smoke puffing from the woods across the meadow. A few seconds later the shrill scream of an incoming cannonball has everyone diving into the trenches for cover. The earth shakes as the cannonballs crash and explode. The barrage of cannon fire increases in intensity as the Union artillery finds the exact range to the Confederate defense. Dirt flies into the air and shattered palisades spin in every direction. Splintered logs turn into deadly shrapnel, shredding everything around them. All Confederate soldiers must make a Common Sense roll as they try to take cover Equal to or lower than Common Sense score Higher than Common Sense score You have avoided injury You have been hit by flying shrapnel. Roll to see how severe the injury 1 – 4 Minor (Roll again on the injury table) 5 or 6 Major (Roll again on the injury table) All Confederate soldiers must make a Morale roll. Equal to or lower than Morale score Higher than Morale score Morale stays the same. Make another roll on the Morale table. “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” Episode 5: Scenario 2 UNION ARMY Advance! The Union major yells, pointing his sword toward the Confederate embankments. The long rows of soldiers begin to march across the meadow. A couple of overanxious rebels fire at your lines, but you are still out of range. Advancing in neat rows, your regiment approaches the swift running creek that cuts across the meadow. The major orders, “Double time!” and your regiment breaks into a trot. Suddenly you see big, bright flashes and clouds of smoke as the Confederate artillery opens fire on the rows of blue-jacketed Union soldiers. Cannonballs thunder into the earth around you, and deadly pieces of hot metal explode into the air along with dirt and bodies of blasted soldiers. All Union soldiers must make an Agility roll to try to avoid getting wounded by the cannon fire Equal to or lower than Agility score Higher than Agility score You have avoided injury You have been hit by flying shrapnel. Roll to see how severe the injury 1 – 4 Minor (Roll again on the injury table) 5 or 6 Major (Roll again on the injury table) “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” UNION ARMY Episode 5: Scenario 2 As you look around for the major, all you find is what’s left o the feathered hat he was wearing. A captain is now waving his sword and screaming, “Charge!” even though your regiment is still several hundred yards from the enemy’s embankments. All Union soldiers must make a Morale roll. (Equal to or less. Failures must then roll on Morale chart You leap over the creek and scramble up the other side. You stop, drop to your knee, and fire. Equal to or lower than Marksmanship score Higher than Marksmanship score You have succeeded! (total # of successes will be distributed to the Confederate Army You missed the target. “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” Episode 5: Scenario 2 CONFEDERATE ARMY You watch as the straight lines of Union soldiers advance in perfect formation across the field, the brass buttons on their handsome blue uniforms glinting in the afternoon sun. These perfect lines soon falter as your regiment’s cannons blast the Northerners with cannonballs and canister rounds. The canister rounds are like giant shotgun shells that spray hundreds of metal pieces or even bits of chain and glass. Even as holes form in the Union lines, more soldiers come up to fill in the gaps. Soon the Billy Yanks are trotting toward you and beginning to fire randomly at your defenses. You hear your regiment’s colonel yell, “Steady men, let them come on. Steady….Steady…All RIGHT! Let’em have it! FIRE! All Confederate soldiers must make a Marksmanship roll to see you they hit their targets Equal to or lower than Marksmanship score Higher than Marksmanship score You have succeeded! (total # of successes will be distributed to the Union Army You missed the target. Split the successes amongst the Union units, soldiers are picked to roll their Agility. Failure results in Wounds (Roll 1-4 Minor Wound roll 5-6 Major Wound) “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” Episode 5: Scenario 2 UNION ARMY As the Union soldiers begin to return fire at the Confederates. All soldiers with the capability to fire roll their Marksmanship score.. All Union soldiers must make a Marksmanship roll Equal to or lower than Marksmanship score Higher than Marksmanship score You have succeeded! (total # of successes will be distributed to the Union Army You missed the target. All Unions soldiers must make a Morale roll. Equal to or lower than Morale score Higher than Morale score Morale stays the same. Make another roll on the Morale table. “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” Episode 5: Scenario 2 UNION ARMY Split the successes amongst the Confederate units, soldiers are picked to roll their Agility. Failure results in Wounds (Roll 1-4 Minor Wound roll 5-6 Major Wound) “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” Episode 5: Scenario 2 CONFEDERATE ARMY The Confederate commanders want to try to break the back of the Union charge with a charge of their own. You hear the order being repeated up and down the line: “Fix bayonets!” You quickly attach a long blade to the end of your musket and prepare to leap over the embankment and meet the enemy hand-to-hand. The colonel stands above the embankment, ignoring the bullets that whiz past him, and gives the order, “Charge!” You come charging over the embankment and run toward the enemy, holding your musket low at your hip and ready to thrust with the bayonet. As you approach the enemy, you and your fellow soldiers let out the famous “Rebel yell.” UNION ARMY You see the gray-uniformed Southerners burst out of the embankments with their bayoneted muskets held in front of them. As they charge toward you, they begin screaming and hollering like demons! All Unions soldiers must make a Morale roll. Equal to or lower than Morale score Higher than Morale score Morale stays the same. Make another roll on the Morale table. The Confederate captain yells, “Retreat!” and you begin backing away from the charging enemy and seek the cover of the creek embankment behind you. “He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword” Episode 5: Scenario 2 CONFEDERATE ARMY The Union army is in full retreat as you charge toward them, but they quit running when they reach the cover offered by the creek embankment. The bugle sounds the retreat for your own troops and you scramble back to the safety of your defenses. As the afternoon wears on, the battle winds down until both sides find themselves pretty much where they started the day. The sight of dead bodies, the moans of the wounded, and the smell of gunpowder fill your senses. As the sun begins to set, the wounded are carried back to the two camps. The business of war has ended for the day. When Johnny Comes Marching Home again, Hurrah! Hurrah! Epilogue After the battle of Oak Grove, the surviving soldiers from both sides will be recognized for distinguishing themselves during the battle. Any soldier who ran from the battle will not receive recognition. However, if a soldier was killed either during the battle or from an infection afterward, can receive the following recognition posthumously (after they died). All soldiers roll on table below (excepting deserters or yella-bellies) 1 Union soldier = Medal of Honor Confederate = Confederate Cross of Honor 2 Citation for Bravery under Fire 3 or 4 A promotion of one grade (see ordered list) 5 or 6 A promotion of two grade (see ordered list) 1 Private 6 Lietuenant 2 1st Private 7 Captain 3 Corporal 8 Major 4 Sergeant 9 Colonel 5 Sergeant-Major 10 General BATTLE TESTED Time to write last journal entry. Date: July 1862 Subject: Fateful Lightnings What did it feel like to be in an actual battle? How does it compare to how you felt when you first signed up for the army? How did the rewards compare to the experience? South – Builds defenses North – waiting because of General McClellan Cannons fire Shooting back and forth Rebels bayonet charge Rewards